LSE IDEAS-LSE Department of International History event

Pulitzer Prize winner William Taubman explains how Gorbachev's biography and background influenced his unique role in world history. 

Taubman explores why Gorbachev’s dream of democratising the USSR failed, how he and President Reagan turned out to be almost perfect partners, and why Gorbachev permitted Eastern Europe to abandon Communism without firing a shot.

Listen to the podcast - Gorbachev: his life and times

Download the podcast - Gorbachev: his life and times

Event recorded October 5th 2017. 

Speakers

William Taubman is Bertrand Snell Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Amherst College. His 2003 book, Khrushchev: The Man and his Era, won both the Pulitzer Prize for biography and the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography in 2004.

Chair: Vladislav Zubok is professor of international history at LSE, with expertise on the Cold War, the Soviet Union, Stalinism, and Russia’s intellectual history in the 20th century.